Saturday, October 17, 2009

Last year, amidst the Hulk, Iron Man, Batman, and Watchmen movies, Superman (1978) starring Christopher Reeve (RIP) quietly turned 30 years old. For some reason, this classic superhero film neither received much commemoration from the fans nor Warner Brothers Studio. At least not to the level that Star Wars received when it turned 30.

Next year, in 2010, the sequel, Superman II, released in 1980, will also turn 30 and I doubt it will gather much celebration either. That's too bad, because these two movies, Superman I and II, are landmark films 30 years after they've been released. Christopher Reeve is perfectly casted and no one has been able to topple him as the Man of Steel ever since. Not in cinema. And not on TV.

Superman II DVD

Superman II has already been released on DVD and Blu Ray and, curiously, there is a version called the Richard Donner cut. Interesting about this is that Richard Donner did not direct Superman II despite creating a masterpiece with the 1978 original. According to IMDB, he had a clash with the producers and the job went to Richard Lester instead. However, there were enough footages that were filmed by Richard Donner so that another version could be made, and it was.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Back to the Future is reverred today as one of the most clever and funniest movies based on time travel. It has given us lasting pop culture icons and lexicons such as the flux capacitor, the De Lorean time machine, and 1.21 gigawatts. The flux capacitor and the De Lorean are associated by many with time travel. And rightly so, it's the most stylish time machine of them all. Also, I hear way too many people coining the term "1.21 gigawatts" on almost activity, even while bowling.

The whole package just fits together nicely. Robert Zemeckis has done a fantastic job directing and co-writing this classic movie. Christopher Lloyd's performance as the eccentric Doc Brown is memorable. Not to mention the lasting imprints that are made by the youthful rivalry between Thomas Wilson's and Crispin Glover's characters as Bif Tannen and George McFly. And Michael J. Fox gives another endearing teenage character in Marty McFly. By this time, he was already known to many as Alex Keaton from the hit TV series, Family Ties. Of course, Leah Thompson (Red Dawn), Marty's future mom and lust stricken teen, is beautiful.

What if there's a Back to the Future Reboot?

First of all, I think that 30 years is a sweet spot for a generational crossroad. In that period, if a teenager goes back in time, he'll be able to see his parents as teenagers themselves.

"What do kids do in the '50s?", asked Marty McFly as he tried to figure out how to hook up his mom and dad. Marty was in high school at the time and a kid himself, but from the '80s.

While I don't have a teenage kid, I think that because of the successful sitcom, That 70's Show, a teenager traveling back in time to 1979 would not be so clueless. But then again, Marty should not have been so clueless with Happy Days still being shown on air in the 80's.

Now with the elements that ought to be updated, there are 3 areas of the movie that immediately comes to mind -- music, Darth Vader from Planet Vulcan, and black mayor.

From Birth of Rock 'n' Roll to Birth of Hip-Hop

Just from the movie alone, audiences should note that rock n roll was still an up-and-coming genre. From history, "Rock Around the Clock" has not been released until 1955. That's the song credited by many pop culture historians as what brought rock & roll to mainstream America. And if we are to follow the events of Marty McFly's adventures in 1955, the legendary Chuck Berry is still searching for the sound that would place him in rock history.

But in Marty's time, in 1985, the music scene is very different. Rock n roll is already wellestablished along with pop, dance, and new wave (KROQ music). In fact, rock n roll has sprouted many sub-genres such as punk, soft rock, hard rock, heavy metal, etc. Kids in the 80s have so much more exposure to music than their 50s counterpart.

But what about a teenager from today who is suddenly brought back to 1979? Let's see. In '79, the disco era is just coming to an end. Did it really end or just changed name to dance beat or house music? Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson (RIP) would have been part of the discomusic scene had they been around in the 70s. Still, many disco songs are enjoyed today in club scenes.

Club scenes! Kids did those in '79 as they do today. Aside from disco, most genres of music enjoyed by teenagers, including rock n roll, are fully developed by 1979.

Now, in the movie, Marty McFly performed a guitar solo in front of a 50s teen crowd that left the audience completely dumbfounded. But a seminal phone call is made by Marvin Berry to his cousin Chuck (Berry) and we are to guess as to what happens next, e.g. Chuck Berry hears Marty's version of "Johnny B Goode" and uses it to create rock history.

Could there be a call made in 1979 that is similar to Marvin's call to Chuck that posits to create a musical legend?

One possibility is a cousin of Dj Run (Joseph Simmons), founding member of Run DMC. The hip hop genre that Run DMC brought to mainstream in the 80s is huge among teenagers today but was just bubbling in 1979.

Darth Vader from Planet Vulcan to ?

One funny scene, upon Marty's arrival in 1955 is the "Darth Vader from Planet Vulcan" schtick that he works a couple of times. I could see how faking an alien invader would be a successful ruse in the 1950s.

But could a sci-fi creation that is already well-known in 2009 be used to scare anyone in 1979?

I can't think of any. Perhaps nukes? Soviet commandos? Ronald Reagan as the Anti-Christ? Maybe the aliens from District 9? I'm not sure any of these would work.

As Marty McFly from 2009 transported to 1979, what would you do if you had to scare your dad into dating your mom?

Mayor Goldie Wilson to President Barrack Obama

This one cannot be ignored. Back to the Future makes a pretty strong statement on breaking political racial barrier in the town of Hill Valley, a presumably mostly white, upper middle-class neighborhood. When Marty encountered Goldie Wilson in the '50s, he suggested that Goldie, a black man, can become a future mayor of Hill Valley, which we already knew happened from scenes before Marty travelled back in time.

In 2009, America has a half-black / half-white president in office. This could actually play well for a movie reboot because Barrack Obama attended Occidental College in 1979. In the same way that Marty inspired Goldie, a teenager from today transporting to 1979 can do the same, but with a much higher goal than to be a mayor of a small mid-western town. Since Occidental College is in California, perhaps this teenager could meet a young Barrack Obama at a Licorice Pizza record store.

I think that a rebooted Back to the Future, though not needed, can still be interesting. It's a classic film but the references may seem very outdated to today's and future youth. Yet, there is a large enough group of movie fans who should welcome the question of what if the movie occured today and back to the 70's.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Red Dawn is a movie filmed around the American mass consciousness in the 80's that the world is a dangerous place with the Soviet Union looking to conquer free society or, at the very least, the US of A. The movie genre centrally themed around US vs USSR conflict dissipated in the 90's and remained so today.

In Red Dawn, an alliance of Communist army parachuted into a mid-western town as part of a full-scale invasion. It was up to a band of high school teenagers who escaped the initial onslaught to stay alive and free their captured neighbors.

I seem to recall that the movie was ridiculed at the time as being too far fetched. So no one took it seriously. Seeing it at a theater here in California, I remember overhearing some dude saying something in the vein of "If the Russians were to land in East LA, they'd be gang banged." I don't know how kids who saw it in other parts of the US felt, but my friends and I thought this movie as a joke.

Over the years, I neither saw nor had any interest in seeing Red Dawn again. It wasn't all that interesting to me, but I caught plenty of references to it on some TV shows or radio programs such as Family Guy, The Adam Carolla Show, and Jericho. Of course, I'm baffled by why Red Dawn is being remade for a 2010 release. It doesn't seem likely to work, unless there's a large group of population in the US who are still afraid of a Soviet invasion.

I did manage to catch Red Dawn again a few weeks ago on This TV. I kept an open-mind. And I'm still unable to understand why there's a remake. I was, however, appreciative in seeing Charlie Sheen (Young Guns), C. Thomas Howell (Outsiders), Lea Thompson (Back to the Future), Jennifer Grey (Ferris Buehler's Day Off), Patrick Swayze (Road House), Harry Dean Stanton (Escape from New York), and Powers Boothe (Rapid Fire). All of them starred in some of my favorite movies. I still watch Charlie Sheen today in Two and a Half Men co-starring another 80s teen star, Jon Cryer (Duckie in Pretty in Pink).

Girls of Red Dawn

Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey. Years after Red Dawn.

Memorable Quotes from Red Dawn

- "There will be no further reprisals against civilians. This was stupid. Impotence. Comrades... If a fox stole your chickens... Would you slaughter your pig because he saw the fox? No. You would hunt the fox... You would find where it lives and destroy it! And how do we do this? Become a fox."- "C'mon! We're all going to die, die standing up!"- "America is a whorehouse... where the revolutionary ideals of your forefathers... are corrupted and sold in alleys by vendors of capitalism..."- "I never saw the Eckert Brothers again. In time, this war - like every other war - ended. But I never forgot. And I come to this place often, when no one else does."

Monday, July 27, 2009

Road House was one of those movies that grew on me. When I first saw it (from my sister's LASER disc collection of all places), I thought it was a joke. I kinda thought that perhaps, director Rowdy Herrington was trying for a "black belt theater"-type of a movie that was prevalently shown in Southern California back in the 80's and early 90's. Of course, the "black belt theater" movies were Hong Kong martial arts flicks that were really crappy in acting and dialogue, but spectacular in action. The problem, I thought, was that the charm of Hong Kong-made martial arts movies do not carry over to American action films.

Still, there was something about the Road House movie that made me watch it several times on cable over the years. If you try to break it down, well, then, you need a life. But if you did anyways, you'll find so many plot holes, cheesy lines, and cliches that you'd want to switch chanel or turn off the TV.

But you didn't. Why? Because Road House was a guilty pleasure. It's a guy movie. Patrick Swayze made a movie for girls in Dirty Dancing two years earlier. Maybe he was compelled to make a guy movie to win back his macho image. I'm just sayin...

The lines in Road House were so bad that they made you chuckle. The plot was so basic, that kudos ought to be handed out to Patrick Swayze for making the movie memorable through his character, Dalton. As a professional bouncer with a philosophy degree from NYU, Dalton used tai chi and martial arts to control physical pain. Or so it would seem. How else would he be able to tell Dr. Clay that "[p]ain don't hurt"?

While we're at it, why not hand out kudos to Rowdy Herrington and his film staff for polishing off an 80s movie in grand style. Released at the end of the 80's in May 1989, Road House was very much an 80's film bearing the time stamp of mullets, moussed-up and feathered hair, acid wash jeans, and monster trucks.

Of course, we can't forget Kelly Lynch. Can't have a guy movie without a chick for the hero to win over. Kelly Lynch played Dr. Elizabeth Clay, the tall blonde local who became the object of Dalton's affection. Donning the popular big poofy hair of 80s fashion, Kelly Lynch was one of the few girls in the world who can make a table cloth look really sexy.

Road House Movie Quotes

Pain don't hurt.

I used to fuck guys like you in prison.

All you have to do is follow three simple rules. One, never underestimate your opponent. Expect the unexpected. Two, take it outside. Never start anything inside the bar unless it's absolutely necessary. And three, be nice.

Take the biggest guy in the world, shatter his knee and he'll drop like a stone.

If somebody gets in your face and calls you a cocksucker, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won't walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can't walk him, one of the others will help you, and you'll both be nice. I want you to remember that it's a job. It's nothing personal.

I want you to be nice until it's time to not be nice.

If you're gonna have a pet, keep it on a leash.

Oh man, it's a mean scene around here, man. There's blood on the floor of this joint every night.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The action blockbuster that launched Bruce Willis onto stardom. He was already an established TV star in Moonlighting. And the competition was tight for big budget action stars at the time, namely, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Mel Gibson. Die Hard immediately placed Bruce Willis among them. And he seemed to outlast them all, with possibly the exception of Mel Gibson. And that would be a close call.

Hans Gruber played by Alan Rickman falling to his death in Die Hard

Another star to rise from Die Hard was Alan Rickman. His portrayal of Hans Gruber opposing Bruce Willis' John McClane was a scene stealer, if not mesmerizing. To this day, I can't say the word "detonator" without mimicking Rickman's fake German accent, at least in my head. Die Hard was his big screen debut, but he was already acting in British TV shows. Since 2001, Alan Rickman had been playing Professor Severus Snape in all the Harry Potter movies.

The supporting casts in Die Hard were fantastic as well and very likeable. What little role they had, they made the most of it and had become classics themselves:

Special agents Johnson and Johnson (Robert Davi and Grand L. Bush from Colors) were a great dry comic relief in a movie that already gave chuckles in between action.

Richard Thornburg. Excellently played by William Atherton as an egotistical reporter who looked to expose John McClaine's identity for want of bumping up his career. Of course, he didn't care that doing so endangered McClane and his family. He's good at playing egotistical characters (Walter Peck in Ghost Busters and Professor Hathaway in Real Genius).

Die Hard was simply the right mix of character chemistry, action, and humor. It's an action-packed thrill ride that cannot be outdated no matter how old the film gets. Twenty one years later, it's still a great movie to watch.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

In the 80's, before "bling" and gangsta became fashionable, Dennis Hopper directed a movie that was deemed controversial at the time. Colors depicted the violent crimes and familial relationships of the LA street gangs. Growing up in the 80's, drive by's and drug busts were constantly on TV, radio, and newspaper. In my hometown, Latino gangs were prevalent and when the movie came out, those who lived in any gangland areas of Southern California attested to its accuracy. It was over-the-top in many ways, but still accurate enough.

The story itself explored many complex relationship among the thug streets of Los Angeles - gangs and gangs, cops and gangs, cop and lady gangbanger, cops and cops, cops and snitches.

The relationship between the main characters Officers Bob Hodges (Robert Duval) and Danny "Pacman" McGavin (Sean Penn) was that of a mentor-newbie. Hodges, who's near retirement, was teaching Danny how to survive the streets as a cop and deal with the gangsters to gain respect. Hodges seemed to have a rapport with Frog (Trinidad Silva), an elder gangbanger who's seen it all and may have dealt with Hodges a few times before. Frog and Hodges were seen chit-chatting a few times. Frog smirking at the end when Hodges died was mildy uncomfortable. I thought those two were friends.

Colors had some of today's prolific actors in small roles: Don Cheadle, Damon Wayans, Forrest Whittaker who starred with Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgement High, and Mario Lopez who went on to star in Saved by the Bell and Dancing with the Stars.

What's a white guy doing in a Latino gang?

I had not seen the movie in over ten years but a couple of scenes still remain in my head. The first was Courtney Gains as Whitey. You can't miss him. He's the red-headed white guy in a Latino gang. I can't help but chuckle in the drive-by scene that Whitey spent propped up against a wall because he was too waisted to move. Courtney Gains still enjoys a cult following from his role as Malachai in Children of the Corn.

Another scene that I'm fond of was when Louisa Gomez (Maria Conchita Alonso) was discovered by Danny in the backroom with a gangbanger during a party that the cops were busting up. "This is me too, Pacman!" was just too funny to forget.

There weren't many quotes that I recall. The one that stuck with me the most was the advice that Hodges gave Danny:

There's two bulls standing on top of a mountain. The younger one says to the older one:"Hey pop, let's say we run down there and fuck one of them cows". Theolder one says: "No son. Lets walk down and fuck 'em all".

Colors is a timeless classic. The Colors soundtrack, provided by various artists such as Ice T and Salt-N-Pepa, still holds up today. Many may find the movie dated since the thug style is so prominent in today's pop culture. But Colors may have started it all.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The 80's were good for Mel Gibson. Yes, the 90's were good to him as well, but he became a mega star in the 80's. Who'd a thought that Lethal Weapon would become THE cop buddy franchise. It's a standard that lives today and will be for more movies to come.

The one stark difference to me between Lethal Weapon 2 and the original Lethal Weapon was the slapstick tone of the sequel. It seemed that Martin Riggs, the lethal weapon, had a makeover and now tried to be part of the close circle of cops around him instead of embracing his lone wolf past. He joked around with his colleagues, became attached with Roger Murtaugh's family, and even fell in love with Rika Van De Haas (played by the ever hot Patsy Kensit). Riggs was not the character that was introduced in the first Lethal Weapon.

Patsy Kensit costars in Lethal Weapon 2

Still hot: Patsy Kensit at the 2009 BAFTA TV Award

Still, despite the funnier and more endearing buddy cop relation (bromance by today's standard), Lethal Weapon 2 was memorable for Leo Getz, superbly played by Joe Pesci who went on to star in other unforgettable movies such as My Cousin Vinny and Goodfellas. I thought that Joe Pesci stole pretty much any scene he was in simply because I wanted to hear what's he gonna say next. Joe Pesci had some of his better movie quotes and funniest moments as Leo Getz.

Funny Leo Getz Quotes

Okay, okay, okay, okay, this is the best part okay? You make a tax deduction on interest payments you don't even make! Am I an innovator? Am I a genius? [explaining money laundering to Riggs and Murtaugh]

Monday, April 27, 2009

I'm glad I got around to reviewing Aliens. It's one of my favorite movies. It's a simple, yet action pack film -- a group of US Space Marines along with Ripley as a private consultant were dispatched to investigate why a corporate colony stopped communicating with planet Earth. Sigourney Weaver reprises her soon-to-be iconic role as Ellen Ripley, the tough as nail survivor of the exploration ship Nostromo.

It's a sequel to the first movie, Alien (1979), which was shot as a sci-fi horror (tagline: "In space, no one can hear you scream"). This one is sci-fi action. Definitely action. Superbly written and directed by James Cameron also known for Terminator, Titanic, etc.

I particularly like the time period. As a deep space movie, it is set before many elements of space exploration have been perfected. So there is no hyperspace travel, there is no beam-me-up technology, and there are no laser guns.

In this time setting, James Cameron excels in giving sci-fi and action fans brute force military technology modernized for a not-too-distant-future space exploration. Some gadgets are the coolest because of the raw power they project. Dropship instead of parachutes and helicopters. APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) instead of humvee. And twenty three years later, the pulse rifle is still the most badass gun in cinema. It's basically American firepower against aliens.

The best scene is when Ripley and the remaining marines were making their last stand. Everytime I watch this movie, I still flinch whenever an alien breaks through the defenses and pops out of nowhere.

Aliens Video Clip: Hudson's death scene

Also, the best character in Aliens is played by Bill Paxton. He gives a very memorable comic relief as Private Hudson, the cocky and loud-mouthed marine who's not as courageous as he sounds. He has the best lines.

Hudsons quotes in Aliens

Aliens Promo Poster

Just what he said. You figure out when he said it.

I say we grease this rat-fuck son-of-a-bitch right now.

What do you mean, "'They' cut the power?" How could they cut the power, man? They're animals!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Whoa! It's the 25 year anniversary of Ghostbusters. I wonder why we're not hearing any celebration of this great supernatural comedy. Or is it science fiction? No matter how you view it, it's a classic 80's films.

Ghostbusters is an awesome movie to watch in the big screen. It's a special effects feast for the eyes. New York at night. Nuclear accelerators vs. Sumerian gods. Giant marshmallow man. Floating ghosts. Pretty much top of the line FX arts that hold even today.

And it balances well with the superb comic acting of Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis. Also excellent is William Atherton as Walter Peck, the arrogant authority figure from the EPA looking to shutdown the Ghost Busters for code violations. Ghostbusters arguably launched Atherton's 80's career portraying arrogant figures we love to hate (Real Genius, Die Hard, Die Hard 2). Sigourney Weaver, who is best known for her tough-as-nail heroine in the Alien saga, is at her best as a soft, vulnerable, and sexy damsel in distress. Of course, the movie makers make no apology showing off her long legs.

And let's not forget that this movie also gave us the Ecto 1. It's one of the more famous pop culture movie cars.

Though not quoted as often as other 80's movies such as Batman or Terminator for instance, Ghost Busters has some of the funniest lines in cinema, delivered by the sardonic carefree scientist, Dr. Peter Venkman (played by Bill Murray).

Ghostbusters Peter Venkman Quotes

All right! This chick is TOAST!

Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown...

Nimble little minx, ain't she?

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

Someone blows their nose and you want to keep it?

We've been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft's okay! He's a sailor, he's in New York; we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble!

So, she's a dog...

Mother pus bucket!

We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!

You're right, no human being would stack books like this.

He slimed me.

Back off, man. I'm a scientist.

If I'm wrong, nothing happens! We go to jail - peacefully, quietly. We'll enjoy it! But if I'm *right*, and we *can* stop this thing... Lenny, you will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters.

Yes it's true...This man has no dick.

Maybe now you'll never slime a guy with a positron collider, huh?

She's not my girlfriend. I find her interesting because she's a client and because she sleeps above her covers... *four feet* above her covers. She barks, she drools, she claws!

I hope that brings back memories of how funny this movie really is.

Unfortunately, I don't find the sequel, Ghost Busters 2, to be as funny. Although the early part of the court scene is hilarious when the Ghost Busters were being represented by Louis Tully (played by Rick Moranis). But that was it.

I've been reading about a Ghostbusters 3 movie. The original cast members are rumored to star. I'm not thrilled over a 3rd movie. I think that Ghostbusters is a classic and should be left alone.

Monday, April 13, 2009

This movie is a very underrated and fun movie to watch. It really didn't pick up a cult following and not a lot of people talk about it. But the tongue-in-cheek performances by Rick Moranis, Eric Roberts Michael Pare, and Willem Defoe are amazing. The music is great. I still have my Streets of Fire CD soundtrack. And "Tonight is what it means to be young" is one of the catchiest tunes ever. The movie is also visually stimulating as it transforms a city into an urban fantasy land. By that, I mean that the landscape is not grungy, yet because it's the home of a motorcycle gang, there is still danger.

The storyline is simple. A rising rock singer gets kidnapped by the motorcycle gang during a club concert. The owner of the club calls on her brother, who is also the ex-boyfriend the rock singer, for help because he's in the military and that he might be able to help. The plot is more of a comic book style maybe that's why I liked it so much.

My favorite character is Billy Fish played by Rick Moranis. He's the rock singer's (Ellen Aim played by Diane Lane) manager. He also has a crush on her and would like nothing more than to have his cake and eat it too. By that I mean rescue Ellen and get rid of her ex-boyfriend Tom Cody. Eric Roberts Michael Pare excellently plays the role of the military-mercenary hero. He simply looks the part of a trench coat-wearing gun slinger.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

This movie was one of the gems of the 80s. I saw it at the local Rosemead 4 theater that's no longer there. In fact, most of the movies in this blog, I saw at the Rosemead 4. This movie was so sad, I almost cried in the car on the way home.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based on a popular coming-of-age book by SE hinton, The Outsiders was about the trials and tribulations of young Greasers, a gang of poor kids who were in a constant turf battle with the rich kids called the Socs. The Socs always had the better cars and, of course, most of the girls.

In one encounter, the young Ponyboy was being assaulted by a group of Socs as a retalliation from an earlier incident. His friend Johnny, in defending Ponyboy, stabbed and killed the lead Socs, Bob Sheldon. Fearing the wrath of the authority and, more so, Darrel, his older brother, Ponyboy and Johnny ran away to hide. They sought help from Dallas, a close friend and fellow Greaser who supposedly had experience in dealing with the law.

The three set-off to hide in the nearby woods where Dallas went back and forth to sort out the problems in town. Only kids themselves and barely hitting puberty, Ponyboy and Johnny had to grow up and quickly learn how to "man up" to their situation. Meanwhile, Bob's death brewed anger among the Socs and an all out rumble against the Greasers was called to settle things.

Although I never read the book, I was completely enthralled by the characters, especially Johnny. His death at the end was sad, but necessary (and unfortunate). I also took particular fond of Dallas as he took care of Johnny and Ponyboy while lecturing them on toughening up. Yet, he was scared of Darrel as well.

One obvious feature of the movie was the casting of then-virtually unknowns who became the who's who of today's and the 80's-90's film scene. C. Thomas Howell played Ponyboy and later on starred in classics The Hitcher and Red Dawn. Ralph Macchio played Johnny and he starred Daniel-san in the memorable Karate Kid. Matt Dillon was Dallas and he was in my favorite blockbuster comedy, There's Something About Mary. Darrel was played by Patrick Swayze who became famous in Dirty Dancing. There was a really funny Chris Farley-Patrick Swayze skit on SNL.

But the supporting casts were just as big as the main casts. Rob Lowe played Sodapop. Emilio Estevez as Two-Bit. Diane Lane as Cherry. And perhaps the biggest actor of our time, Tom Cruise as Steve Randle. He did not even have a nickname!